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61. [Article] Stratigraphy and structure of the Greenstone Mountain area, Beaverhead County, Montana
The Greenstone Mountain area, which includes the Utopia mining district, is located in the foothills of the Pioneer Range, Beaverhead County, Montana. Approximately 12, 600 feet of Paleozoic and Mesozoic ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Stratigraphy and structure of the Greenstone Mountain area, Beaverhead County, Montana
- Author:
- Sharp, George Carter, Jr
The Greenstone Mountain area, which includes the Utopia mining district, is located in the foothills of the Pioneer Range, Beaverhead County, Montana. Approximately 12, 600 feet of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and an undetermined thickness of Precambrian sediments and Late Cretaceous igneous rocks are exposed within the area of investigation. Most of the sedimentary rocks were deposited along the margin of the Cordilleran miogeosyncline. Precambrian Beltian sediments are the oldest exposed rocks in the map area. Pre-Mississippian Paleozoic rocks have not been differentiated in this study but probably represent the Cambrian and Devonian Systems. Other Paleozoic rock units include the Lodgepole and Mission Canyon Formations of Mississippian age, the Amsden Formation of Mississippian to Pennsylvanian age, the Quadrant Formation of Pennsylvanian age, and the Phosphoria Formation of Permian age. Mesozoic sediments include the Dinwoody and Woodside Formations of Triassic age and the Kootenai Formation and Colorado Group of Cretaceous age. The Jurassic System is not represented. During the Late Cretaceous Laramide orogeny the sedimentary rocks of the area were folded and faulted. The dominant structures produced during this period of deformation are northeast- to north-trending anticlines and synclines that are locally overturned to the east. Steep faults of small to moderate displacement disrupt the folds. Quartz monzonite intrusive rocks were emplaced following the Laramide orogeny and are probably genetically related to the Boulder Batholith. The intrusion gave rise to mineralization and thermal metamorphism of the surrounding country rocks. Quaternary glacial and fluvial deposits mantle parts of the area. At least three valley glaciers advanced into the northwestern corner of the area in Late Pleistocene time and left lateral and terminal moraines. Pleistocene terrace gravels are situated along Birch Creek and on lowlands in the west, and Recent alluvium is being deposited along existing streams.
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This dissertation explores one overarching question relevant to the paleoclimate of the latest Pleistocene glacial cycle (approximately the last 130,000 years): “How did spatial and temporal evolution ...
Citation Citation
- Title:
- Ocean Temperature Variability during the Late Pleistocene
- Author:
- Hoffman, Jeremy Scott
This dissertation explores one overarching question relevant to the paleoclimate of the latest Pleistocene glacial cycle (approximately the last 130,000 years): “How did spatial and temporal evolution of ocean temperature, both at the surface and interior, relate to other parts of the climate system in the late Pleistocene?” Results from three studies are presented that seek to address longstanding questions in paleoceanography and paleoclimatology for the late Pleistocene using a combination of novel and accepted statistical and geochemical analysis techniques and leveraging comparisons with available global climate model data. The last interglaciation (LIG; ~129-116 ka) was the most recent period in Earth’s history with higher-than-present global sea level (≥6-9 m) under similar-to-preindustrial concentrations of atmospheric CO₂. This suggests that additional feedbacks related to albedo, insolation, and ocean overturning circulation may have resulted in the apparent warming required to cause the higher sea level. Our understanding of how much warmer the LIG was relative to the present interglaciation remains uncertain, however, with current estimates suggesting that sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) were 0-2°C warmer than late-20th century average global temperatures. We present a global compilation of proxy-based annual SST spanning the LIG. Using Monte Carlo and Bayesian techniques to propagate uncertainties in age-model and proxy-based SST reconstructions, our results quantify the spatial timing, amplitude, and uncertainty in global and regional SST change during the LIG. Our conclusions suggest that the LIG surface ocean was indistinguishable from the average surface ocean temperatures observed for the last two decades (1995-2014). This may ultimately imply that the Earth is currently committed to ≥6-9m of equilibrium sea-level rise. Although the LIG is not an analogue for present and future climate change due to the large differences in seasonal orbital insolation and absence of anthropogenic greenhouse gas radiative forcing, it provides an opportunity to test the ability of global climate models to simulate the mechanisms and climate feedbacks responsible for the warmer climate and higher global mean sea level during the LIG. However, when forced only by LIG greenhouse gas concentrations and insolation changes, climate models suggest that the annual mean temperature response was not significantly different from preindustrial control simulations. We present the first multi-model and multiscenario ensemble of transient and equilibrium global climate modeling results spanning the LIG. We show, using a novel model-data comparison framework, that these scenario-specific model results exhibit regionally independent agreement with ocean basin-specific proxy-based SST stacks. This result ultimately implies structural uncertainties and/or misrepresentations of climate feedbacks in the existing suite of climate model simulations, or underestimations of additional proxy-based SST uncertainties. Our conclusions suggest a new target LIG time period for future model-data comparisons and highlight the need for higher resolution transient climate modeling of the LIG and its dependence on meltwater input to the high latitude oceans during the preceding deglaciation. Few discoveries have stimulated the paleoclimate community more so than Heinrich events. Nevertheless, the cause of Heinrich events, characterized by a large flux of icebergs sourced from the Hudson Strait Ice Stream into the North Atlantic, remains debated. Commonly attributed to internal ice-sheet instability, the occurrence of Heinrich events during the coldest intervals of the last glacial cycle instead suggests an external climate control. We expand on recent studies that have shown that incursions of warm subsurface waters into the intermediate depth North Atlantic Ocean destabilized an ice shelf fronting the Hudson Strait Ice Stream, causing a Heinrich event. We present new surface- and bottom-water stable isotope, trace metal, and sedimentary records from two cores taken along the Labrador margin that further support subsurface warming as a trigger of Hudson Strait Heinrich events. We further relate these changes to other sediment core records from the North Atlantic and transient deglacial climate modeling results to show that subsurface warming was ubiquitous across the intermediate North Atlantic during the early part of the last deglaciation and was most likely caused by a preceding reduction in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
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63. [Article] Present-day and future contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River : implications for water management
Glaciers are effective reservoirs because they moderate variations in runoff and supply reliable flow during drought periods. Thus, there needs to be a clear understanding of the influence of glacier runoff ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Present-day and future contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River : implications for water management
- Author:
- Phillippe, Jeff
Glaciers are effective reservoirs because they moderate variations in runoff and supply reliable flow during drought periods. Thus, there needs to be a clear understanding of the influence of glacier runoff at both the basin and catchment scale. The objectives of this study were to quantify the late summer contributions of glacier melt to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River and to simulate potential impacts of climate change on late summer streamflow. The Upper Middle Fork Hood River catchment (50.6 km²) is located on the northeast flanks of Mount Hood Oregon. Discharge measurements and isotope samples were used to calculate glacier meltwater contributions to the entire catchment, which feeds into a major water diversion used for farmland irrigation. Data were collected over the period August 10 - September 7, 2007. This late summer period was selected because there is typically little rain and suspected high glacier melt contributions. Discharge measurements taken at glacier termini, show that just two of the mountains glaciers, Eliot and Coe, contributed 41% of the total surface water in the catchment. The Eliot Glacier contributed 87% of the total flow in the Eliot Creek, while the Coe Glacier supplied 31% of the runoff in Coe Creek. Isotopic analyses, which include the inputs of all other glacier surfaces in the catchment, show a total glacier contribution of 88% from the Eliot Glacier to the Eliot Creek, in excellent agreement with the streamflow measurements. Isotopes also showed an 88% contribution from the Coe Glacier to the Coe Creek, higher than the amount measured from streamflow. This latter discrepancy is likely due to undersampling of streamflow from the Coe Glacier. During the isotope measurement period, overall contributions of both Coe and Eliot Glaciers to the Upper Middle Fork Hood River were 62 - 74% of catchment discharge. A temperature index model was used to simulate projected impacts of glacier recession and warmer temperatures on streamflow. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) was chosen for this task because it has been shown to effectively model runoff in glacierized catchments where there are limited meteorological records. SRM was calibrated using the 2007 discharge records to quantify August – September glacier runoff in the Upper Middle Fork catchment under a variety of glacier and temperature scenarios. SRM simulations indicate that runoff from the catchment glaciers are highly sensitive to changes in glacial area, glacier debris-cover, and air temperature. Model simulations show that glacier recession has a greater effect on runoff than do projected temperature increases. Thus, even without warmer summer temperatures, glacier contributions to streamflow will decrease as long as the glacier continues to lose mass. Applying both current glacier recession rates and a 2°C temperature forcing, the model predicts a decrease of 31% of late summer glacier runoff by 2059, most of which is lost in August. This study suggests that glaciers currently play a significant hydrological role in the headwater catchments of the Hood River Basin at a time when water is needed most, and that these contributions are projected to diminish over time.
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64. [Article] Benthic foraminifer stable isotope record from Site 849 (0 - 5 Ma) : local and global climate changes
Benthic foraminifer and δ¹³C data from Site 849, on the west flank of the East Pacific Rise (0°11'N, 110°3l'W; 3851 m), give relatively continuous records of deep Pacific Ocean stable isotope variations ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Benthic foraminifer stable isotope record from Site 849 (0 - 5 Ma) : local and global climate changes
- Author:
- Rugh, W., Morey, A., Hagelberg, T. K., Mix, Alan C., Wilson, J., Pisias, Nicklas G.
Benthic foraminifer and δ¹³C data from Site 849, on the west flank of the East Pacific Rise (0°11'N, 110°3l'W; 3851 m), give relatively continuous records of deep Pacific Ocean stable isotope variations between 0 and 5 Ma. The mean sample spacing is 4 k.y. Most analyses are from Cibicides wuellerstorfi> but isotopic offsets relative to Uvigerina peregrina appear roughly constant. Because of its location west of the East Pacific Rise, Site 849 yields a suitable record of mean Pacific Ocean δ¹³C, which approximates a global oceanic signal. The ~lOO-k.y.-period climate cycle, which is prevalent in δ¹⁸O does not dominate the long-term δ¹³C record. For δ¹³C, variations in the -400- and 41-k.y. periods are more important. Phase lags of δ¹³C relative to ice volume in the 41- and 23-k.y. bands are consistent with δ¹³C as a measure of organic biomass. A model-calculated exponential response time of 1-2 k.y. is appropriate for carbon stored in soils and shallow sediments responding to glacial-interglacial climate change. Oceanic δ¹³C leads ice volume slightly in the 100-k.y. band, and this suggests another process such as changes in continental weathering to modulate mean river δ¹³C at long periods. The δ¹³C record from Site 849 diverges from that of Site 677 in the Panama Basin mostly because of decay of ¹³C-depleted organic carbon in the relatively isolated Panama Basin. North Atlantic to Pacific δ¹³C differences calculated using published data from Sites 607 and 849 reveal variations in Pliocene deep water within the range of those of the late Quaternary. Maximum δ¹³C contrast between these sites, which presumably reflects maximum influx of high-δ¹³C northern source water into the deep North Atlantic Ocean, occurred between 1.3 and 2.1 Ma, well after the initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Export of high-δ¹³C North Atlantic Deep Water from the Atlantic to the circumpolar Antarctic, as recorded by published δ'3C data from Subantarctic Site 704, appears unrelated to the North Atlantic-Pacific δ¹³C contrast. To account for this observation, we suggest that deep-water formation in the North Atlantic reflects northern source characteristics, whereas export of this water into the circumpolar Antarctic reflects Southern Hemisphere wind forcing. Neither process appears directly linked to ice-volume variations.
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65. [Article] Systematics of the salamander genus Dicamptodon strauch (Amphibia:Caudata:Ambystomatidae)
Dicamptodon is the single, extant genus of the ambystomatid subfamily Dicamptodontinae. Two species, D. ensatus (Eschscholtz) and D. copei Nussbaum are recognized. D. ensatus is found in the forested, ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Systematics of the salamander genus Dicamptodon strauch (Amphibia:Caudata:Ambystomatidae)
- Author:
- Nussbaum, Ronald A.
Dicamptodon is the single, extant genus of the ambystomatid subfamily Dicamptodontinae. Two species, D. ensatus (Eschscholtz) and D. copei Nussbaum are recognized. D. ensatus is found in the forested, mountain regions of northwestern California and western Oregon, in the Willapa Hills and Cascade Mountains of Washington, in extreme southwestern British Columbia, and in the northern and central Rocky Mountains of Idaho. D. copei is found in the Olympic Mountains, Willapa Hills and southwestern Cascades of Washington; and in the vicinity of the Columbia River Gorge in extreme northwestern Oregon. The two species are sympatric in the Columbia River Gorge, southern Willapa Hills, and southwestern Cascades of Washington. The two species differ, among other characters, in blood serum proteins, sensitivity to thyroxine, mode of life history, body size, relative head size, limb length, tail height, tooth number, gill raker number, color, and degree of ossification of skeletal elements. Geographic variation is prominent in D. ensatus. Multivariate analysis of morphometric characters of larval populations discriminates three groups: a Rocky Mountain Group, a Cascade and Oregon Coast Range Group, and a Californian Group. The first two groups seem to be more similar to each other than either is to the Californian Group. The Californian Group can be divided into a southern subgroup and a northern subgroup; and the northern subgroup can be further separated into a coastal subgroup and an interior highlands subgroup. These groups are all more-or-less verified by analysis of color of larvae and adults, and morphometric characters of adults. These groups correspond geographically with major features of topography in the Pacific Northwest. The California Group is confined south of the geologically old and complex Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains. The southern Californian subgroup is found south of the "North Coast Divide", and the northern subgroup is found north of this Divide in an area of northwestern drainage. The interior highlands subgroup of the northern Californian subgroup is found in the higher, summer-dry mountains of northern California where the substrate is complex and of a different origin than the coastal substrate. Strong morphoclines occur across the Klamath-Siskiyou Region into southwestern Oregon. The Rocky Mountain Group is separated from the Cascade and Oregon Coast Range Group by the broad, arid Columbia Plateau. Variation is slight over the relatively small range of D. copei, and what variation exists seems to be a function of geographic distance. The dicamptodontines have been an evolutionarily conservative group confined to the humid temperate, Arcto-Tertiary environments of western North America throughout their Cretaceous and Tertiary history. A remnant of the once wide-spread, ancestral habitat occurs today in the humid fog belt of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. D. ensatus living in this area today exhibit the most primitive features of all living Dicamptodon. These include: large heads, long limbs and tails, many teeth and gill rakers, propensity to transform, and perhaps the habit of vocalizing as a terrestrial, defensive adaptation. D. copei is viewed as a relatively recent derivitive of an ensatus-like ancestor. This ancestor is believed to have had a propensity for neoteny and body attenuation associated with life in the extreme climatic, physical, and biotic environments imposed by Pleistocene glaciation. Isolation in western Washington during a glacial maximum allowed these tendencies, along with small body size, to be selected for, unhampered by gene flow from outside populations. It is thought that the ensatus-like ancestor of D. copei was more similar to recent northern populations of D. ensatus than to recent Californian populations of D. ensatus. Californian populations were relatively unaffected by Pleistocene climatic extremes, as they passed this period in the milder, ancestral environment of southern, coastal latitudes. During the last glacial maximum, the Rocky Mountain populations were probably continuous with populations on the lower eastern slopes of the Washington Cascades, via a connecting, wet, forested parkland, which existed south of the Cordilleran ice sheet in north-central Washington. This parkland was broken up after the ice retreated, during the Altithermal interval, about 7-4,000 years ago, and it was at this time that the Rocky Mountain Group became isolated. Postglacial readjustments in the ranges of D. copei and D. ensatus account for their current narrow zone of sympatry. Subspecies of D. ensatus and D. copei are not recognized.
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The forest alpine tundra ecotone (FTE, also known as alpine treeline or subalpine parkland), is a conspicuous feature of mountain landscapes throughout the world. Climate change-driven increases in temperature ...
Citation Citation
- Title:
- Patterns of tree establishment and vegetation composition in relation to climate and topography of a subalpine meadow landscape, Jefferson Park, Oregon, USA
- Author:
- Zald, Harold Samuel James
The forest alpine tundra ecotone (FTE, also known as alpine treeline or subalpine parkland), is a conspicuous feature of mountain landscapes throughout the world. Climate change-driven increases in temperature are believed to result in FTE movement and tree invasion of subalpine meadows, which have been documented throughout the Northern Hemisphere across a wide range of geographic locations, climatic regimes, forest types, land use histories, and disturbance regimes. Climate-driven FTE movement may have numerous ecological effects such as: positive temperature feedbacks, increased net primary productivity and carbon storage, and declines of plant populations and species. The magnitude of these ecological effects is highly uncertain, but will be largely determined by the rates and spatial extent of FTE movement and meadow invasion. FTE movement and meadow invasion are often considered at global or regional spatial scales in relation to climate, yet they are fundamentally driven by tree regeneration processes that are influenced by a variety of climatic and biophysical factors at micro site, landscape, and regional scales. Much of the research on the FTE has not taken a landscape approach incorporating multi-scale processes. For example, species distribution models used to project climate change effects on future species distributions and plant biodiversity in mountainous landscapes rely on species distribution data that is often sparse and incomplete across FTE landscapes. This dissertation attempts to overcome many of the limitations in FTE research by taking a landscape approach to develop a greater understanding of past spatiotemporal patterns of tree invasion, current spatial patterns of vegetation composition and structure, and potential future patterns of climate-driven tree invasion in the FTE. The setting for this research is Jefferson Park, a 260 ha subalpine parkland landscape in the Oregon High Cascades, USA. This study uses field plots, remotely sensed imagery, airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and simulation modeling to: 1) predictively map current fine-scale species distributions, vegetation structure, and tree ages; 2) reconstruct patterns of tree invasion over the last fifty years in subalpine meadows in relation to climatic conditions, landforms, microtopography, and seed dispersal limitations; and 3) develop a statistical model that projects future patterns of tree invasion into subalpine meadows under different climate scenarios in Jefferson Park. In chapter two, I generated fine-scale spatially-explicit predictions of current vegetation composition, structure, and tree ages in the Jefferson Park study area. Objectives of this chapter were threefold: 1) to characterize spatial patterns of tree ages, vegetation composition, and vegetation structure in a FTE landscape in the Oregon Cascades using predictive mapping; 2) determine how vegetation composition and structure were associated with gradients of environmental factors derived from multispectral satellite imagery and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data; and 3) determine if predictive mapping characterizations of tree age, vegetation composition, and vegetation structure were improved by the inclusion of LiDAR data. Predictive mapping of vegetation attributes was accomplished using gradient analysis with nearest neighbor imputation; integrating field plots, multispectral SPOT 5 satellite imagery, and LiDAR data. Vegetation composition was best described by SPOT 5 imagery and LiDAR-derived topography, while vegetation structure was best described by LiDAR-derived vegetation heights. Predictions of species occurrence were most accurate for tree species, moderate for shrub species and vegetation groups, and highly variable for graminoid species. Tree age, which was the most accurately predicted vegetation structure variable, indicates the study area was largely un-forested in 1600, gradually invaded by trees from 1600 to the 1920's, and rapidly invaded from the 1920's to 1980. Predictive mapping of vegetation structure variables such as basal area and stand density were subject to large amounts of error, possibly resulting from scale incompatibilities between vegetation patterns and plot size, and/or heterogeneous FTE landscapes where forest structure does not develop along consistent trajectories with stand age. This study suggests integrating multispectral satellite imagery, LiDAR data, and field plots can accurately predict fine-scale spatial characterizations of species distributions and tree invasion in the FTE. This study also indicates that sample design can influence spatial patterns of model uncertainty, which needs to be considered if predictive mapping of vegetation and sensitive ecosystems is a component of inventory and monitoring programs. In chapter three, I focused on quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of subalpine parkland tree invasion in Jefferson Park over the past five decades in relation multi-scale climatic and biophysical controls. LiDAR data provided previously unavailable fine-scale spatial characterizations of microtopography and vegetation structure. I utilized LiDAR, georeferenced field plots, and tree establishment reconstructions to quantify spatiotemporal patterns of tree invasion in relation to late season snow persistence, landform types, fine-scale topographic variability, distances from potential seed sources, and climate variation within 130 ha of the subalpine parkland landscape of Jefferson Park. Tree occurrence (i.e. tree presence in 2 m plots and grid cells) occurred in 7.75% of study area meadows in 1950 and increased to 34.7% in 2007. Landform types and finer-scale patterns of topography and vegetation structure influenced summer snow depth, which influenced temporal and spatial patterns of tree establishment. Tree invasion rates were higher on debris flow landforms, which had lower summer snow depth than glacial landforms, suggesting potentially rapid treeline responses to disturbance events. Tree invasion rates were strongly associated with reduced annual snow fall on glacial landforms, but not on debris flows. Tree establishment was spatially constrained to micro sites with high topographic positions and close proximity to overstory canopy, site conditions associated with low summer snow depth. Seed source limitations placed an additional species-specific spatial constraint on where trees invaded meadows. Climate and topography had an interactive effect, with trees establishing on higher topographic positions during both high snow/low temperature and low snow/high temperature periods, but had greater than expected establishment on lower topographic positions during low snow/high temperature periods. Within the context of larger landform types, topography and proximity to overstory trees constrained where trees established in the meadows, even during climate periods with higher temperatures and lower snowfall. Results of this study suggest large scale climate-driven models of vegetation change may overestimate treeline movement and meadow invasion, because they do not account for biophysical controls limiting tree establishment at multiple spatial scales. In chapter four, I used field data and analyses from chapter 3 to parameterize a spatially and temporally explicit statistical model of fine-scale tree invasion within 130 ha of the Jefferson Park study area. The model incorporated both the climatic and biophysical controls found in chapter 3 to influence tree invasion. The model was used in two ways: (1) to spatially project patterns of tree invasion from 1950 to 2007 in response to historical climate; and (2) to project future tree invasion of the study area from 2007 to 2064 under six different annual snowfall scenarios. Modeling addressed the following questions: (1) Can fine-scale (2 m pixel size) patterns of historical tree invasion be accurately predicted? (2) How sensitive is future tree invasion (and therefore meadow persistence) to different future snowfall scenarios? (3) Are non-climatic factors such as landforms and biotic interactions associated with different spatial patterns of tree invasion? From 1950 to 2007, simulated historical meadow area declined from 82% to 65% of the study area. Model outputs of historical area, spatial distributions, and spatial clustering of tree invasion generally agreed with independent validation, and suggest biotic interactions due to young tree establishment facilitation are important on glacial landforms but not debris flows. Simulations of future scenarios indicated meadow declined to 36 to 43% of the study area by 2064. Projected meadow area declined with reduced annual snow fall, but not under prolonged high and low snow fall periods. Meadows persisted under all future scenarios in 2064. This model suggests subalpine meadows may significantly decline under climate warming, but will still persist in 2064. Micro sites and recruitment limitation may be equally or more important factors than climate change in influencing subalpine landscape change, suggesting local high-elevation persistence of subalpine meadows under future climate warming.
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67. [Article] Man and the land : an ecological history of fire and grazing on eastern Oregon rangelands
Ecological and historical information are combined in examining the environmental influence of fire and grazing on rangelands in eastern Oregon through time. Competitive relationships between herbaceous ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Man and the land : an ecological history of fire and grazing on eastern Oregon rangelands
- Author:
- Shinn, Dean Allison
Ecological and historical information are combined in examining the environmental influence of fire and grazing on rangelands in eastern Oregon through time. Competitive relationships between herbaceous and woody flora in the northern Great Basin are discussed, focusing broadly on the shrubsteppe regions 'of Franklin and Dyrness (1973) but with special reference to the Artemisia/Agropyron association. Impacts of native and domestic grazing animals and of cultural burning are traced from the distant past into recent history. During the Pleistocene Epoch North America supported a wide diversity of large mammals. Toward the end of the Pleistocene, many of these fauna became extinct, perhaps as a result of post-glacial climatic change, perhaps also under the influence of incoming primitive hunting cultures and their broadcast burning practices. Some question exists about the intensity of native grazing in the northern Great Basin during the last few thousand years. Actual levels of bison populations and the duration of their residence in the study area have not been determined. The character of indigenous vegetations, however, indicates that native grazing was relatively light for an extended period primevally. Twenty-four references to native cultural burning at the time of European contact were found in historical journals. Though the antiquity of these customs is uncertain, an analysis of Native American fire myths demonstrates the depth of native cultural perceptions of the relationship between man and fire, and supports the likelihood that fire was used primevally in the northern Great Basin as it was used by aboriginal peoples elsewhere in North America. With the influx of European culture during the 19th century, misapprehensions about fire among whites distorted the influence of native cultural burning. Exotic flora and fauna were introduced, and ecosystems began to change. Large herds of livestock depleted native herbaceous populations. Early irresponsible burning by whites became associated with declining rangeland resources, and efforts toward total fire suppression became incorporated in developing conservation policies. Native woody flora and exotics began to invade open rangeland communities. Climatic flux during the period of European settlement in the northern Great Basin may have exacerbated the impacts of intensified grazing and elimination of burning. Early photographs of rangelands in east-central Oregon were gathered; their dates range from 1880 to the early 1930's. Sites represented in these pictures were re-photographed in 1976. Photo-set comparisons show expansion of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) populations into rangeland ecosystems, demonstrating the consequences of cultural disturbances during the last 150 to 200 years.
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Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) were observed during the summers of 1979 and 1980 in Sawmill Bay, northeast Prince William Sound, Alaska. Harlequins were associated with a short, medium gradient, non-glacial ...
Citation Citation
- Title:
- Ecology of harlequin ducks in Prince William Sound, Alaska, during summer
- Author:
- Dzinbal, Kenneth A.
Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) were observed during the summers of 1979 and 1980 in Sawmill Bay, northeast Prince William Sound, Alaska. Harlequins were associated with a short, medium gradient, non-glacial stream (Stellar Creek) also used by salmon. Although harlequins nested along Stellar Creek, they apparently did not establish home ranges there during the prenesting period, and both courtship and copulation occurred in the bay. Pairs were most numerous.in the bay in mid-late May; 15 pairs were recorded in 1979, and 14 pairs were observed in 1980. Laying occurred from about 26 May - 17 June, and hatching took place from 3-15 July. Females lost weight during the incubation period, but gained weight the remainder of the. summer. The non-breeding frequency among females was estimated as 47% in 1979 and 50% in 1980. The application of patagial tags, however, appeared to reduce production. Following nesting, males generally deserted Sawmill Bay for comparatively exposed moulting areas, Females mostly remained in the bay until midlate August. Use of habitats by harlequins varied with time of day, and activity budgets varied with habitat. Paired harlequins during prenesting and laying (10 May - 21 June) spent about 47% of their time near rocks and headlands, and about 26% of their time each in Stellar Creek and in lee (i.e. protected) waters. Unpaired harlequins (22 June - 15 August) were rare in lee waters (<3%); unpaired males spent about 77% of their time on rocks and about 20% of their time in Stellar Creek, while unpaired females spent about 43% and 55% of their time on rocks and in Stellar'Creek, respectively. Harlequins primarily rested on rocks and headlands, while lee waters seemed important mostly for social spacing among pairs. Stellar Creek was the focus of nearly half to practically all of the feeding activity of harlequins. Early in the summer they fed primarily on marine invertebrates in the intertidal delta of the creek, but in July they moved upstream into the spawning beds of the arriving salmon, where they fed predominately on loose, drifting roe. Paired females spent more time feeding (21% vs 13%), but less time resting (41% vs 46%) and interacting (1% vs 3%) than did their mates. Unpaired females spent slightly more time feeding (15% vs 13%) and in locomotion (13% vs 10%), but less time preening (6% vs 3%) than did unpaired males. The large proportion of time harlequins spent resting was tentatively attributed to a strategy of minimizing energy expenditure, versus one of maximizing energy intake.
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69. [Article] The geology of part of the Snake River Canyon and adjacent areas in Northeastern Oregon and Western Idaho
The mapped area lies between the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon and the Seven Devils Mountains of western Idaho. Part of the Snake River canyon is included. A composite stratigraphic section ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- The geology of part of the Snake River Canyon and adjacent areas in Northeastern Oregon and Western Idaho
- Author:
- Vallier, Tracy L. (Tracy Lowell), 1936-
The mapped area lies between the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon and the Seven Devils Mountains of western Idaho. Part of the Snake River canyon is included. A composite stratigraphic section includes at least 30,000 feet of strata. Pre- Tertiary and Tertiary strata are separated by a profound unconformity. Pre -Tertiary layered rocks are mostly Permian and Triassic volcaniclastic and volcanic flow rocks. At least four pre -Tertiary intrusive suites occur. Tertiary rocks are Miocene and Pliocene plateau basalts. Quaternary glacial materials and stream deposits locally mantle the older rocks. Permian ( ?) rocks of the Windy Ridge Formation are the oldest rocks and consist of 2,000 to 3,000 feet of keratophyre, quartz keratophyre, and keratophric pyroclastic rocks. Unconformably ( ?) overlying the Windy Ridge Formation are 8,000 to 10,000 feet of volcaniclastic rocks and minor volcanic flow rocks of the Hunsaker Creek Formation of Middle Permian (Leonardian and Wordian) age. Spilitic flow rocks of the Kleinschmidt Volcanics are interlayered with and in part overlie the Hunsaker Creek Formation and comprise a sequence about 2,000 to 3,000 feet thick. The Paleozoic layered rocks were intruded by the Holbrook - Irondyke intrusives, composed of keratophyre porphyry, quartz keratophyre porphyry, diabase, and gabbro. The Paleozoic rocks were deformed by an orogeny between Middle Permian and Middle Triassic time. Plutonic rocks (Oxbow Complex) of gabbro, quartz diorite, diorite, and albite granite were intruded during Early Triassic (7) time. Movements along the Oxbow -Cuprum shear zone occurred during and after the intrusions. Middle Triassic (Ladinian) spilitic flow rocks and volcaniclastic rocks of the Grassy Ridge Formation overlie the older rocks with angular unconformity. Thicknesses are 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the northeast part of the map area; no rocks of the Grassy Ridge Formation are exposed in the southwest part. The Imnaha Formation of Late Triassic (Karnian) age overlies the Permian strata unconformably near Fish Lake in the western part of the area. The Doyle Creek Formation of Late Triassic (Karnian) age conformably overlies the Grassy Ridge Formation in the Snake River and Imnaha River canyons and may interfinger with the Imnaha Formation east of Fish Lake. The Doyle Creek Formation ranges in thickness from 3,000 to 5,000 feet and includes two members - the Ashby Creek Conglomerate and the Piedmont Point Member. The Martin Bridge Formation, represented by 1,750 feet of Late Triassic (Norian) limestone, conformably overlies the Doyle Creek Formation. At least two intrusive events apparently occurred during the Jurassic Period. The Jurassic ( ?) intrusives, were emplaced before regional metamorphism and consist of hypabyssal dikes and sills of diorite, quartz diorite, and dacite and andesite porphyries. Subsequently, the Upper ( ?) Jurassic intrusives were emplaced during a late stage of regional metamorphism and are represented by small stocks of gabbro, norite, quartz diorite, and gran - odiorite porphyry. A major orogeny during Middle and Late ( ?) Jurassic time deformed the rocks. Regional metamorphism produced mineral assemblages characteristic of the greenschist facies. Columbia River Basalt, 2,000 to 3,000 feet thick, erupted from fissures during late Miocene and early Pliocene time and covered an old erosion surface. Pliocene - Pleistocene uplift, alpine glaciation, and extensive stream erosion are responsible for the present topography.
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70. [Article] The fluvial response to glacial-interglacial climate change in the Pacific Northwest, USA
This research focuses on the development of new techniques to explore terrestrial-ocean climate linkages along the Pacific Northwest-northeast Pacific Ocean margin. This is done by investigating river ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- The fluvial response to glacial-interglacial climate change in the Pacific Northwest, USA
- Author:
- VanLaningham, Sam J.
This research focuses on the development of new techniques to explore terrestrial-ocean climate linkages along the Pacific Northwest-northeast Pacific Ocean margin. This is done by investigating river response to climate change and by unraveling this history preserved in continental margin sediments. A significant component of this work centers on developing a 40Ar-39Ar incremental heating method to fingerprint bulk fluvial sediment entering this region. Results show reproducible ages from individual rivers accounting for the majority of sediment delivered offshore. A 40Ar-39Ar detrital mixture model is developed to examine the fidelity of these results and shows that the bulk ages measured from river mouth sediments can be accurate indicators of the average age of feldspars eroded from a given catchment area. The bulk sediment ages are combined with Nd isotopic analyses into a ternary mixing model to better understand the sources of terrigenous material delivered to offshore continental margin sites. Downcore Ar-Nd isotopic compositions can be described by three general river sediment sources proximal to the core site, the Umpqua, Rogue+Klamath, and Eel Rivers, from ~14 ka to Present. Results from the ternary model also suggest that differential contributions of eroded material plays the primary role in provenance changes seen at the core site, rather than sediment transport changes due to ocean circulation. This research culminates in a modeling effort to examine downcore provenance changes. We develop a model that balances basin-averaged 40Ar-39Ar ages (detrital mixtures) of the contributing fluvial basins and predicts the bulk sediment value at the core site. We find that the Upper Klamath Basin (which contained pluvial Lake Modoc during Marine Isotope Stage 2) is the most influential source area that can contribute to younger bulk sediment 40Ar-39Ar ages at the core site, relative to present day values. The Eel River is also shown to have a considerable influence on changes in margin sedimentation. Combinations of increases in the sediment fluxes out of these two basins can describe the 40Ar-39Ar provenance evolution observed at the core site over the 22-14 ka time period. Overall, this new 40Ar-39Ar isotopic technique, together with the Nd isotopic system and the use of detrital mixture modeling show tremendous promise as a multi-faceted strategy to assess erosion and provenance change through the continuous history preserved in fine-grained marine sedimentary records.